Strong winds leave nearly one-third of county in the dark

The Ogemaw County outage map on Consumers Energy website as of 7:30 a.m. Dec. 5.

Consumers Energy

Posted
Tuesday, December 5, 2017 7:39 am

Consumers Energy Safety Tips:

• Stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines and call 911 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050.

• Be alert to crews working along roads. Drivers should slow down or stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so they can safely go past workers on roadsides.

• Never use a generator in an attached garage, basement or near any air intakes, and never fuel a generator when it’s running. Operating a generator without proper ventilation can create carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless and deadly gas. If using a generator, contact a licensed electrician to ensure that it is properly connected and make certain it is isolated form the company’s electric distribution system.

• In some cases, the mast that holds the electric service wires to a customer’s home or business may have been damaged or torn away. Crews will reconnect the wires to a home, but only a licensed electrician can repair a mast or a cable.

OGEMAW COUNTY — Strong sustained winds and stronger gusts knocked out power to nearly one-third of Ogemaw County early Dec. 5.

The power outages resulted in the closure of Whittemore-Prescott Area Schools and the Kirtland Community College's Roscommon campus Dec. 5.

“Gale force wind gusts will continue through tonight across all of the northern Michigan nearshore waters,” the National Weather Service Hazardous Weather Outlook report read. “A few gusts may reach storm force over far northern Lake Michigan this morning.”

According to the NWS, the area has experienced 24 mph sustained winds with gusts exceeding 30 mph.

These high winds resulted in 5,448 of 17,137 Consumers Energy customers in Ogemaw County being in the dark, according to the company’s website.

“We have boots on the ground, fighting back against Michigan’s worst,” Consumers Energy said on its outage map. “We’ve weathered these storms before and our crews are fully prepared to restore power as quickly as possible. Visit the outage center to report an outage, receive estimated restoration times and safety tips.”

Most outage areas in Ogemaw County have an estimated time of restoration for 9 a.m. Dec. 5 or sooner. However, with the NWS reporting that strong winds will continue throughout the day and Consumers facing more than 1,100 outages in the state as of 7:30 a.m. Dec. 5, that information likely will be updated.

Comments

Please keep comments on topic and appropriate for all ages. Remember that people of all ages read our website. Those that are not appropriate will be removed. Please read our full community guidelines before posting.